Day: April 7, 2025

Timing is everything, and the Democrats opening an investigation into Elon Musk’s role at NASA the same week that the Senate grills the nominee for NASA Administrator smacks as bad timing for all the parties involved.

The ranking members of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform are concerned about Mr. Musk having a role in the deconstruction of NASA via the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). In a letter to NASA’s Chief Legal Officer, the ranking members state:

As of February 2025, Mr. Musk and his companies have received a combined total of at least $38 billion in contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax credits from the federal government and state governments…Mr. Musk continues to profit from taxpayer dollars and now finds himself in charge of determining which federal contracts the government will keep and which will be cut—an arrangement that runs afoul of the law.

The letter also discusses Mr. Musk’s financial relationship with Jared Isaacman (wrongly spelled in the letter cited below), the nominee for NASA Administrator, providing examples such as this one:

Mr. Isaacson’s fortune is tied to Shift4, the payments processing company he controls. In 2021, Shift4 entered into a partnership with Starlink, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mr. Musk’s SpaceX. Shift4 estimated that its partnership with SpaceX will generate $100 billion in Starlink subscription payments.

The letter is worth reviewing even if you believe the Democrats have an ax to grind. Would this type of activity, business relationship, and lack of transparency been allowed under the Biden administration? I don’t believe it would have been tolerated then, nor should it be tolerated now.

The standards in today’s government have fallen through the floor, but it doesn’t have to remain that way. NASA and the American public deserve better.

Note: The same Committee is also launching an investigation into the use of Starlink at federal facilities. A letter from the Committee ranking members to the White House states:

We write to express our deep concerns and request clarification regarding the recent installation of Starlink’s satellite internet service at the White House complex, the General Services Administration (GSA), and potentially other federal government agencies. Given Elon Musk’s dual role as the owner of Starlink and the apparent leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the Trump Administration, the expanded use of Starlink across the federal government raises significant ethical, security, and regulatory implications that warrant immediate attention.